MISSOURI TIMES THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MISSOURI FEBRUARY 2020 VOL. 15, NO. 4

Artist Taps Missouri Roots to Paint Society’s New Home Last summer, Byron Smith stood behind his canvas in , studying the new Center for Missouri Studies building across the street. Smith wanted to get it right. SHSMO had commissioned him to do an oil painting for the Center’s grand opening celebration in August. For two years Smith had walked past the construction site each morning on his way to work as a custodian for the . As the sun rose over it, the building’s Prof. Alan Havig colors and shape would take on new dimensions. A Remembered completely new scene would unfold midday when Page 3 he walked back home. Smith chose to paint the building in the late afternoon and before dusk. The “golden hour” allowed him to capture the best light and shadows on the building. Smith’s painting Center for Missouri Center for Missouri Studies, View from Peace Park, oil painting Studies, View from Peace Park is now on display by Byron Smith, 2019. inside the building at the SHSMO art galleries. Other works he has donated to the Society include his favorite painting of trees more than a century “I didn’t mind if my artwork looked different old on his family’s land in Boone County. According than others,” said Smith. He recalled a school- to Smith’s father, four pear trees were planted to teacher who asked the class to draw flowers. honor the birth of the family’s first child born out of Smith’s classmates drew flowers with petals slavery. Three of the trees are still standing. pointing to the sun. “Mine was droopy and showed “It’s comforting to know that some of my work a bit of emotion,” recalled Smith. “The teacher liked is here in this wonderful new building,” said Smith. it, and that gave me more confidence to use my Ceres is Restored “I call this place my home, too.” own imagination. It’s kind of like a composer who Pages 4–5 Smith has been an artist for most of his 59 prefers the minor keys over the major keys.” years. He remembers having a paint-by-number kit Smith says his art has benefited from the men- as a child, carefully making sure to stay within the torship of great teachers and artists in Columbia grid and use the correct paint color. But like most such as Sidney Larson and Frank Stack. He enjoys curious children, he wondered how well he could plein air painting and is inspired by the stories and draw without the numbers. When he began to places of central Missouri, where he has lived all make his own art, he found a love that would last a his life. He has collected art and sold works since lifetime. the 1990s and now operates in a space shared with Stack at Orr Street Studios in Columbia. As Smith worked on his canvas, a homeless person came up to him in Peace Park, giving advice on how he should paint the building. Smith thought for a minute, “Well, maybe, he’s right.” But then he reminded himself that it was his painting. “I love Radium Experiments that we all have different views of what we are at Pickard Hall looking at,” he said. Page s 11–12 A short video of Smith painting the Center for Missouri Studies is available for viewing at shsmo.org/ collections/art/byron-smith.

Event Calendar Smith works on his painting of the Center for Missouri Pages 8–9 Studies in July 2019. Descendants of Prussian Emigrants Reunited Through Philanthropic Gift As the State Historical Society began raising funds to support its move to the Center for Mis- souri Studies building, an idea took root among the descendants of Johan Heinrich and Maria Elisabeth Plassmeyer, who immigrated to Mis- souri with their six children in 1857. Several of the Plassmeyers’ descendants in Missouri reached out to their extended family to honor their ances- tors while also helping SHSMO’s cause. Together, cousins Norb Plassmeyer, Stan Mengwasser, and Ken Gelven contacted relatives of their great grandparents. Their efforts helped them to dis- cover family members they had never met. “It seemed to be a very daunting process, at first, finding our relatives who came from this lineage and then asking them to contribute to a fund-raising effort,” said Norb Plassmeyer. “Through email and a closed Facebook page, we found more than 70 members of our family who agreed to honor our Plassmeyer descendants who served our country through military service, law enforcement, elected office, and other public service roles.” The family exceeded its original goal, awarding more than $50,000 to the compre- hensive campaign for the Center for Missouri Studies. In return, the State Historical Society of Left to right: Joan Mengwasser, Stan Mengwasser, Norb Plassmeyer, SHSMO executive director Gary Kremer, Ken Gelven, and trustee Doug Crews at the Center for Missouri Studies on Missouri chose to honor the family by naming December 17, 2019. one of the new building’s classrooms the Plass- meyer Room. The room will be used for work- shops as well as classes on Missouri history. “The Plassmeyer Room is a unique space honoring a family who wished to celebrate their immigrant heritage from the Westphalia region of Prussia to the Missouri town of Westphalia,” said SHSMO executive director Gary Kremer. “Many members of this family have served our country, which is a testament to our immigrant heritage.”

SHSMO oral historian MISSOURI TIMES Sean Rost teaches a course in Missouri is published by the history to MU under- State Historical Society graduates in the Plassmeyer Room on of Missouri January 21.

Managing Editor John Brenner SHSMO Membership Renewal

Editor “For your convenience, we have included a remittance envelope within Missouri Beth Pike Times. Whether you are renewing your membership, giving the gift of history through a SHSMO gift of membership, or donating in tribute to a family member Associate Editor or friend, thank you for your generosity.” Kimberly Harper — Cristal Backer, SHSMO Advancement Officer for Membership and Annual Giving

MISSOURI TIMES 2 Missouri’s Oldest Newspapers Digitized for Bicentennial Two of Missouri’s oldest newspapers, the Missouri Gazette in St. Louis and the Missouri Intelligencer in the Boonslick region, are now freely available online. SHSMO completed their digitization as part of its bicentennial efforts. The Missouri Gazette was founded in 1808 by Joseph Charless, the official “Printer to the Territory.” It was the first newspaper established west of the Mississippi River. Printed weekly, it covered local, domestic, and foreign news. The Gazette changed names and owners several times until it became the Mis- souri Republican in 1822. The Intelligencer was founded in 1819 by Benjamin Holliday and Nathaniel Patten. In its early years it covered national and inter- national news, and in an era in which most papers were closely tied to political parties, it was not aligned with any party. In 1826, Patten moved the paper from Franklin to Fayette, where it began supporting John Quincy Adams’s presidential bid. Following political backlash and financial trouble, An early edition of Missouri Patten moved the paper to Columbia, Gazette published July 15, where he continued to publish it until 1835. 1815. The Missouri Digital Newspaper Project is steadily increasing its online collection of historically significant newspapers, with the goal of eventually offering publications from every county in Missouri. The first phase of the project is focusing on the years of statehood through 1946. More than 2.2 million digital news pages are now online. All but sixteen of Missouri’s counties are now represented on the site. In addition to digital content, SHSMO offers researchers more than 56 million pages of Missouri newspapers on microfilm. Some 300 SHSMO staff Patsy Luebbert and Beth Pike host an informational booth at the Missouri Press Association Convention in Kansas City on current newspapers, from every county in the state, are added to the September 26, 2019. Luebbert is the grant manager of the Missouri collection each week. Digital Newspaper Project.

Distinguished Historian Alan Havig Remembered for Many Contributions to Missouri History The State Historical Society of Missouri is saddened by the death on January 8 of Alan R. Havig, a professor of history at Stephens College and also a historian of the Society and a longtime supporter. Havig was born August 26, 1940, in Litchfield, Minnesota, the son of Harold Rolf Havig and Blanche Sylvia (Peterson) Havig. He was married to Bettina (Baker) Havig Contact for over 52 years. A celebration of Havig’s life will be held March 14, 11 a.m., at the Firestone (573) 882-7083 Baars Chapel on the campus of Stephens College in Columbia. [email protected] Havig made numerous contributions to the State Historical Society over the course of his career. An active member of the Society, he served on the editorial advisory board for the Missouri Historical Review from the 1980s until 2017. He researched and wrote the 260-page Online book A Centennial History of the State Historical Society of Missouri, 1898–1998, and edited the shsmo.org anthology Filling Leisure Hours: Essays from the Missouri Historical Review, 1906–2006. In rec- ognition of his extraordinary service and support, Havig received the Society’s Distinguished Social Media Service Award, its highest honor, in 2008. In 2015, Stephens College honored him by creating the Alan R. Havig Award for Distin- shsmo.org/contact/social guished Service. The award is given to individuals who make a lasting and significant impact on the college. Havig joined the college’s faculty in 1967 after earning a PhD from the University National History Day of Missouri. He received Stephens College’s Distinguished Teaching Award in 1985 and 1994, nhdmo.org and its Distinguished Adviser Award in 1990. In 2002 Havig received the Governor’s Award for [email protected] Excellence in Teaching. Havig is survived by his wife, Bettina; their daughter, Kirsten Havig of Laramie, Wyoming; and one sister, Margaret Daniher of Huntington Beach, California. Online condolences may be Missouri 2021 made at www.memorialfuneralhomeandcemetery.com. missouri2021.org [email protected]

MISSOURI TIMES 3 Missouri’s Roman Goddess of Agriculture Gets the Spa Treatment Crossing the Missouri River bridge into Jefferson City, you can’t help but notice the odd appearance of the State Capitol building these days. For the past year, it has taken on a different look while being renovated. The towering dome is wrapped in white-colored canvas with large slits allowing the wind to blow through as construction crews work to restore the exterior of the building in time for the state’s bicentennial in 2021. Also getting a complete cleaning was the ten-foot, fourteen-hundred-pound statue of Ceres that stands on the top of the dome. The striking figure of the Roman god- dess of agriculture serves as a decorative lightning rod for the building. In 2019, conservators in Chicago cleaned the bronze statue, which is 94 percent copper. A laser cleaning treatment made it possible to remove contaminants while restoring Ceres’ natural color tones and the patina of her bronze. Ceres returned to her lofty pedestal in December before a crowd of schoolchildren, state officials, and other onlookers, some of whom were also watching a year ear- lier when the statue was brought down from the building. The restoration process allowed visitors some rare close- up views of the giant figure. “She looks outstanding,” said Bob Priddy, past presi- dent of SHSMO and one of the bystanders when Ceres was lifted back on top of the capitol. “Looking at her now, you would never guess that she had been struck by light- ning more than 300 times!” Priddy, who has written several books on the Missouri State Capitol, said seeing Ceres up close is an event that The newly restored Ceres statue on display on the south lawn of the State Capitol. The happens once in a lifetime. The only other occasion for statue was returned to the top of the dome in December. Color photos courtesy of Bob Priddy the public to see Ceres up close was when the statue was installed in 1924. Without the modern cranes of today, in time for Missouri’s 200th birthday. SHSMO senior conservator crews tied a winch to a tree and hoisted Ceres to the top of the Erin Kraus is pleased to see the results of the conservation work. capitol in three sections using a pulley system. “I work with Missouri history every day,” Kraus said. “The con- In addition to Ceres, statues of Thomas Jefferson and other servation of Ceres is another great demonstration of our state’s historic figures at the State Capitol building are also being restored dedication to preserving its history for future generations.”

Ceres is placed on a flatbed trailer for public viewing before being transported to Chicago for restoration work on November 15, 2018.

MISSOURI TIMES 4 Ceres returns to the Missouri State Capitol, fully restored, in December 2019.

Ceres is lowered from the top of the Capitol dome, November 15, 2018.

The statue Ceres is lifted from the Missouri State Capitol dome for restoration work, November 15, 2018.

State Capitol Commission officials take part in the capping of the dome The Thomas Jefferson statue on the south steps of the ceremony, 1917. Gerald R. Massie Photographs Collection Missouri State Capitol, date unknown. Charles Trefts Photographs Collection

MISSOURI TIMES 5 Bicentennial Program to Launch Online Registry of Missouri Artists Name a Missouri artist working between the years 1821 to scholarly research and provide a resource to anyone wanting to 1951. Master artists like Thomas Hart Benton and George Caleb know more about artists in their town, or even about the person Bingham quickly come to mind. Yet given the state’s diverse, behind a painting found in a family’s attic. The joint endeavor, complicated history, many lesser-known artists are beginning to known as Missouri Remembers: Artists 1821–1951, is one of the emerge in a new online resource being developed by the Nelson- Missouri2021 Bicentennial’s endorsed projects. The State His- Atkins Museum of Art’s library, the Kansas City Art Institute, and torical Society of Missouri serves as the official coordinator of the the St. Louis Public Library. The idea to create an online portal bicentennial commemoration. of Missouri artists and their works began in 2018 after a visit to Nelson said that a $10,000 grant from the Missouri Humani- Nelson-Atkins by SHSMO’s Michael Sweeney, Missouri’s bicenten- ties Council is helping Nelson-Atkins and its partners to get the nial coordinator. project started. Most of the files already exist in their collections, “Michael came to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art to share so bringing these files to an online platform and providing a K-12 with us ideas that communities across the state were planning to curriculum using the registry are among the goals of the project. commemorate the bicenten- Heagney said they want nial in 2021,” said Amelia the art registry to be rep- Nelson, who heads the Library resentative of all cities and and Archives of the Spencer towns in the state. The free, Art Reference Library at searchable online database Nelson-Atkins. “It sparked an will include artists who lived interest in finding a way to in, or spent part of their use our collections to high- careers within, the state of light Missouri’s rich artistic Missouri from 1821 to 1951, and cultural heritage. Not just a period that doesn’t overlap in urban areas, but in small with other projects that docu- towns and rural areas, too.” ment contemporary artists. Once ignited, Nelson “We hope that by bringing to teamed up with M. J. Poehler light the artists in our col- of the Kansas City Art Insti- lections, more contributors tute and Adele Heagney of will want to add their artists the St. Louis Public Library from communities besides St. to begin brainstorming how Louis and Kansas City,” added this online artist registry Heagney. might look. They agreed that For more information a biographical dictionary on projects being planned featuring information on Night Scene by Carl Rudolph Krafft (1884–1938). Painting in the collection of the for the bicentennial, visit Missouri artists would fuel Dayton Art Institute. Krafft was a founding member of the Society of Ozark Painters. missouri2021.org.

Fitzpatrick World War II Editorial Cartoons on Exhibit

SHSMO art curator Joan Stack leads a gallery walkthrough of the Daniel Senior producer Ruth Ezell (left) of St. Louis public television station Nine Fitzpatrick World War II editorial cartoons exhibit on December 7, the Network visits with SHSMO senior conservator Erin Kraus (right) while filming anniversary of Pearl Harbor. a segment on Fitzpatrick’s editorial cartoons that will air on the program Living St. Louis in early spring.

MISSOURI TIMES 6 Volunteer Spotlight: Susan Burns A decade ago, Susan Burns attended a genealogical conference where SHSMO’s executive director Gary Kremer asked for volun- teers to assist archivists at the State Historical Society. Volunteers are trained by staff to do a host of needed projects, from repairing fragile newspapers to indexing card files and working with micro- filmed newspapers. Burns had decided to retire after working for 38 years at the University of Missouri, mostly with the engineering school. Genealogy had been a long-time passion of hers. So, the time seemed right to take Kremer up on his request to help the State Historical Society. “I like being around people, and I knew that is what I would miss most when I retired,” said Burns. “Coming here each week helps me get out of the house.” Each Tuesday morning, Burns looks forward to transcribing World War II letters in the SHSMO collections. “It’s fascinating to read how language has evolved and to hear from young soldiers with words like ‘swell’ often used to describe how life was going overseas to worried loved ones back home,” she said. Burns grew up in Poplar Bluff and later raised two children with her husband, Gary Burns, who also worked at the university. Her hus- Susan Burns prepares to work on a transcription of World War II letters at the band also shared a love of history, taking a special interest in maps. State Historical Society of Missouri Columbia Research Center on January 14. “He spent a lot of time at the State Historical Society in the map col- lection and cherished any kind of map, new or antique,” said Burns. When her husband died in 2006, Burns set up an endowment for SHSMO’s map collection in his honor. The Burns Endowment In addition to her work at SHSMO, Burns is committed to giving ensures that the State Historical Society has a funding source back in other ways. She also volunteers at Meals on Wheels and that supports ongoing efforts to preserve maps and expand the Broadway Christian Church, and is a past board member of the public’s access to them. The same year that her husband passed Missouri State Genealogical Association. “We are so grateful to away, Burns was hit with another traumatic event in her life: she the Burns family for their many contributions to the Society,” said was diagnosed with breast cancer. Rounds of chemotherapy and Kremer. treatment brought her to good health for 13 years until cancer Last fiscal year, volunteers donated more than 4,300 work returned last summer. She began chemo treatment right before hours to SHSMO’s six research centers. Kremer said the volunteer Thanksgiving. When she feels good, Burns makes her way to the program is a much-needed service that allows the Society to do State Historical Society to help out. “My doctor told me that if I more for its patrons. If you are interested in volunteering at any felt that I could keep doing my volunteer work, I should. So, if I’m of the research centers (Columbia, St. Louis, Kansas City, Cape not having a bad reaction to treatment, I try not to miss a Tuesday Girardeau, Rolla, or Springfield), please visit our website for more morning at the Historical Society,” said Burns. information atshsmo.org/support/volunteer .

New Staff and Promotions at SHSMO SHSHMO welcomes two new staff members to assist with Mis- the position in early January. A. J. joined SMSO in 2017 after souri2021 Bicentennial programming. Morgan Dennehy, the new working as an associate historian on the Soldiers Memorial Revital- projects coordinator, will ensure that bicentennial programs run ization Project at the Missouri History Museum in St. Louis. He has smoothly. Her previous experience includes managing accounts played a key role in the St. Louis center’s growth in recent years. and client services at MBS Textbooks and the Bassett Law Firm, both in Columbia. Dennehy holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English with an emphasis in British literature from Southeast Missouri State. Nick Hartman received his Bachelor of Science in Communications degree at William Woods University in 2019 and has completed internships at the Missouri Farm Bureau and the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He will be assisting with communication efforts over the next two years. A. J. Medlock was promoted to senior archivist for the St. Louis Research Center, replacing Claire Marks, who left Morgan Dennehy Nick Hartman A. J. Medlock

MISSOURI TIMES 7 SPRING 2020 PROGRAMS

MARCH Missouri Conference on History March 11–13 | DoubleTree by Hilton Chesterfield-St. Louis Anyone interested in historical research, the teaching of history, historic preservation, or other professional applications of history is invited to attend the annual Missouri Conference on History. The 2020 conference is hosted by Lindenwood University and sponsored by the State Historical Society of Missouri. Registration for the conference is required. For more information, visitmch.shsmo.org .

Missouri Women: Suffrage to Statecraft March 14–July 25 | Columbia | Center for Missouri Studies SHSMO and the Missouri Historic Costume and Textile Collection commemorate the centennial anni- versary of women’s suffrage with a collaborative exhibition of clothing and artwork that highlights trailblazing women in Missouri politics and the roles they played in the suffrage movement. An opening public reception will be held March 14 from 1:30–3 p.m.

APRIL Historic Missourians Trivia Event April 9 | Columbia | Center for Missouri Studies Test your knowledge about Missouri history at the Center for Missouri Studies. SHSMO will be hosting a trivia night with the theme of Historic Missourians. Sign up to play, or put together a team of five and enter the fun competition. Registration is required. Learn more at shsmo.org/events. National History Day in Missouri State Contest April 25 | University of Missouri | Columbia See how NHDMO transforms Missouri students as they compete at the state level for a chance to advance to the national contest. Volunteers and judges are always needed to help with the regional and state competi- tions. More information is available atnhdmo.org .

MAY Land, Horses, Neat Cattle, Polls, and More: Tax Lists and Your Genealogy May 20 | Springfield | Ozarks Genealogical Library Learn the basics of using tax lists in genealogy research, including the types of information collected on tax lists, real estate, personal property, and combined tax lists. Join Bill Eddleman, associate director of SHSMO’s Cape Girardeau Research Center, who will give specific examples of what to look for when researching tax lists. The workshop begins at 10 a.m. Learn more at shsmo.org/events.

ON EXHIBIT

Music in Missouri explores Missouri’s contribution to American music. Large-scale photos and informational panels are on display at the Wenneker Family Corridor Gallery on the second floor of the Center for Missouri Studies.

The second installments of several yearlong exhibitions are being shown in the SHSMO Guitar Family Galleries:

▪ Battle Lines: WWII Cartoons by Daniel Fitzpatrick: The United States Enters the War, December 1941–May 1943 (now through March 20)

▪ Landscape Visions by Oliver Schuchard (now through April 4)

▪ On the Big River: Tom Benton Illustrates Mark Twain (now through May 2)

See additional public events at shsmo.org NATIONAL HISTORY DAY IN MISSOURI nhdmo.org

Maria Brown performs “Red Cross Triumph and Tragedy: An Insight into Edith Cavell’s Life” at the mid-Missouri regional NHD contest at Columbia College in 2019.

Jefferson City Student Finds Useful Tools to Compete in National History Day The National History Day in Missouri regional contest season is This year Brown will continue in the performance category with just around the corner, and students are working hard to prepare a topic that involves a historic figure in her own family. “My topic their projects for competition. In February and March, students person is a male, so as a female I had to consider how to portray in grades 6 to 12 from around the state will present their history his story. It’s also always a challenge to find primary sources,” said projects at regional contests in Maryville, Kirksville, Kansas City, Brown, who was able to locate materials online and at her local Columbia, St. Louis, Joplin, Springfield, Rolla, and Cape Girardeau. library to complete that task. Participating in NHDMO’s work- Seventh-grader Maria Brown, from Blair Oaks Middle School in shops has helped in improving her research skills and showing Jefferson City, is preparing for the mid-Missouri regional contest at her how to use NoodleTools to organize the bibliography for her Columbia College on February 27. Last year, Brown participated in project. the NHDMO program and workshops for the first time. Advancing If you would like to see projects by students like Maria Brown, to the state contest, she took first place in the junior individual consider being a judge for the NHDMO state contest on the performance category with her enactment of British nurse Edith University of Missouri–Columbia campus on April 25. For more Cavell during World War I. Brown then competed at the national information, visitnhdmo.org/judges . contest in College Park, Maryland.

MISSOURI TIMES 10 RESEARCH CENTERS

Dr. Herman Schlundt Papers Offer Insight into Radium Experiments at Pickard Hall on MU Campus Last November, the University of Mis- later became chairman of the department. to successfully extract mesothorium, a souri announced that Pickard Hall will By the time of his death in 1937, Schlundt potentially less expensive substitute for be torn down after years of vacancy due was considered an expert on radium and radium, from ores so that it could be used to radiation concerns. Designed by M. F. the effects of radiation on the human body. in manufacturing paint. Schlundt described Bell and built in 1892 as part of the iconic Schlundt was a contemporary of Marie his work in a bulletin titled “Mesothorium,” on the Columbia Curie, who with Pierre Curie and Henri published by the Bureau of Mines in 1922. campus, the building, which housed the Becquerel won a Nobel Prize in physics An article in the January 18, 1931, edi- Museum of Art and Archaeology until the for the discovery of radium in 1903. When tion of the Semi-Weekly Spokesman-Review museum was moved to a new location in radiation was shown to kill cancer cells, in Spokane, Washington, described the 2013, was once the home of the Chem- the world believed that radium might offer work being done in Schlundt’s radium labo- istry Department. Pickard Hall was closed cures for everything from cancer to blind- ratory. The lab received large quantities in 2013 after the discovery of radioac- ness. Scientists were investigating potential of luminous watch dial paint in powdered tive contamination believed to have been health benefits from naturally occurring form. Lab workers would refine this paint caused by research conducted until the radiation in waters, and in 1904 Schlundt to recover usable radium. According to the 1930s by chemistry professor Herman began studying the radioactivity in mineral article, “This refining, which takes approxi- Schlundt, whose papers are in the holdings waters in the Missouri Ozarks as well as in mately a month and a half, involves removal of the State Historical Society of Missouri. Yellowstone National Park. of the impurities of the paint by gradual Schlundt was born in Two Rivers, Wis- Radium was also used in commercially crystallization and precipitation, a laborious consin, on June 16, 1869. After earning his produced luminous paints, and Schlundt but exceedingly remunerative task.” bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees was asked by the US Bureau of Mines from the University of Wisconsin, he came and the Welsbach Company in New to Missouri to teach chemistry in 1902 and Jersey to experiment with ways Schlundt Papers continued on page 12

An exterior view of Pickard Hall on the University of Missouri–Columbia campus, circa 1900. Glass Plate Negative Collection

MISSOURI TIMES 11 RESEARCH CENTERS Cape Girardeau Columbia Kansas City Rolla Saint Louis Springfield

Schlundt Papers continued from page 11

Schlundt did not limit his efforts to experiments. Upon visiting Schlundt’s corporate research. He also studied the old lab in Pickard Hall, he asked why the time it takes for radium to pass through the building wasn’t marked as a historical site. human body, using himself in the experi- Schlundt’s papers were donated to ments by drinking radium-infused water. the university by his daughter, Anna, in Schlundt remained the chairman of 1946. The papers largely consist of corre- the chemistry department until his death spondence files that document his radium in 1937 from kidney disease and chronic research. His work to extract mesothorium encephalitis. In 1966, Dr. Glenn T. Sea- from ore waste inadvertently led to the borg, chairman of the US Atomic Energy destruction of one the university’s most Commission, praised Schlundt’s work in beautiful, historic buildings, but his passion a speech at the dedication ceremony for for understanding the effects of radiation MU’s nuclear reactor. Seaborg recalled on the human body increased our under- Schlundt’s success in separating radium standing of the hazards of radiation and led from carnotite ores and even providing to improved safety standards. Marie Curie with mesothorium for her

An advertisement for radium glow treatment, Concordia Blade-Empire (Concordia, Kansas), August 5, 1904, page 7.

Heart of America Kennel Club Collection Broadens Scope of Research in Kansas City Dog lovers and canine enthusiasts will for the events. Dick and Janet Rees bred, find an interesting collection at the Kansas trained, and showed Boston Terriers City Research Center that spans 70 years at all levels of competition, and both of material from the Heart of America also served as board members for the Kennel Club in Kansas City (HOAKC). The HOAKC. club, established in 1948, is an all-breed A second collection, donated by kennel club consisting of canine breeders, Loraine Boutwell in memory of her exhibitors, and owners in Kansas City and husband, Victor S. Boutwell, primarily the surrounding area. It was accredited by contains premium lists, judging pro- the American Kennel Club and held its first grams, and other documents related all-breed show on February 27, 1949. to HOAKC events such as all-breed Today the Heart of America Kennel dog shows, obedience trials, puppy Club remains active in the community and matches, and combined specialty collaborates with the Leavenworth, Kansas clubs that include multiple shows for Kennel Club on shows each year. The State individual breeds. Historical Society holds two collections of Collections like the Heart of materials from the HOAKC. America Kennel Club materials help The first collection, donated by Richard broaden the scope of community D. Rees in memory of his wife, Janet Lee activities represented in the archives Rees, consists entirely of all-breed dog at the State Historical Society of show catalogs. These catalogs list club Missouri. The HOAKC collections information including officers, board mem- document a thriving community in bers, and committees as well as schedules, Kansas City that might otherwise be judging programs, point systems, and prizes unfamiliar to many of its residents.

A Heart of America Kennel Club catalog published in 1951. Heart of America Kennel Club Catalogs Collection

MISSOURI TIMES 12 RESEARCH CENTERS

SHSMO Welcomes Donations of Family Documents Related to Missouri History For nearly one hundred years, donors to contact one of the Society’s research centers to see the journal of Lieutenant Lawrence if any letters, diaries, photographs, or other records might be a L. O’Kelley was stored in a box significant addition to the collected historical record of Missouri unknown to the rest of the family and its people. SHSMO cannot guarantee the acceptance of every until his death. The army veteran’s collection, but all materials are evaluated for their potential value leather-bound journal ended up to researchers and patrons. Collections larger than ten cubic feet with a grandson, Mike O’Kelley, who require extra scrutiny due to space constraints. treasured his grandfather’s personal Smither encourages anyone with potential research materials reflections on serving in France that document the history of the southwest Missouri region to and seeing combat during World contact her. She says that the Springfield center is in particular War I. O’Kelley approached several need of materials relevant to the histories of Barton, Cedar, Dade, museums about donating the journal, Dallas, and Stone Counties. For more information about gifting but none were interested. collections or making monetary donations to help preserve and “Since my grandfather was born support Missouri’s cultural and historical heritage, visit shsmo.org. in Ash Grove, Missouri, I called the Lieutenant Lawrence L. O’Kelley in a photo taken archivist at the State Historical during World War I. Society who gave me great advice on conserving it,” said O’Kelley, of Huntingtown, Maryland. “When I asked if she would be interested in adding it to the collections, she was thrilled!” O’Kelley and his wife stopped by the Springfield Research Center on one of their trips across the country to donate the diary as well as his grandfather’s honor certificate for serving in the Battle of the Meuse-Argonne during the final Allied offensive in the fall of 1918. He is now assured that his grandfather’s collection will be well preserved in a place where it will be useful to scholars, students, and anyone else researching or learning about the First World War. “Parting with documents connected to family can be dif- ficult,” said Erin Smither, SHSMO senior archivist in Spring- field. Unless properly stored, family papers can be damaged from mold, water leaks, fires, pests, and other causes. Gifting significant historical records to SHSMO ensures the donor that their collection will be stored safely, organized, and made available to family members and researchers now and in the future. How do you know whether a family document is of value to the State Historical Society? Smither advises potential

This October 10, 1918, entry from O’Kelley’s diary records the death of a friend during the Battle of the Meuse-Argonne.

MISSOURI TIMES 13 RESEARCH CENTERS Cape Girardeau Columbia Kansas City Rolla Saint Louis Springfield

New Life Evangelistic Center Records Shed Light on the Jesus Movement in St. Louis Among the newest collections available Rice fashioned the ZOA Free Paper after secular-sounding music. One of the major at the St. Louis Research Center are the similar underground newspapers that had innovations of the Jesus Movement was papers of the New Life Evangelistic Center sprouted on the West Coast at that time, to combine modern music with Christian (NLEC). Established by minister Larry Rice including the Hollywood Free Paper in Los lyrics, a form of worship now found in in 1972, New Life emphasizes care for Angeles. “Zoa” is the many churches. the poor by providing food and clothing, Greek word for life. In By the mid-1970s, emergency shelter, job training programs, the first issue of theZOA the Jesus Movement, and spiritual care. Legal problems forced Free Paper, Rice edito- like the broader coun- New Life to close its St. Louis shelter on rialized that he wanted tercultural movement, 1411 Locust Street in 2017, but efforts are NLEC and its publica- was in decline, and underway to reopen it. New Life continues tion to encourage St. many of the institu- to provide services through its administra- Louisans to reject the tions it inspired began tive office in Overland, Missouri. “establishment” in favor to fold. Rice’s ministry The St. Louis center’s NLEC records of seeking zoa (life in proved to be a long- contain correspondence, meeting minutes, Jesus Christ). lived exception. As and photographs depicting the founding An early adver- New Life seeks to and expansion of NLEC’s ministry from tisement in the ZOA reopen its facility in St. 1972 to 2018. Among the notable features Free Paper promoted Louis, it continues to in the collection are issues of the ZOA Free NLEC’s Catacombs operate online and on Paper, NLEC’s in-house publication. The Coffeehouse, built low-powered televi- newspaper chronicles New Life’s begin- in an old coal tunnel sion channels to com- nings as an offshoot of the Jesus Move- under New Life’s municate its message. ment, a religious movement that took hold original headquarters The NLEC papers among a segment of the nation’s youth in at 2107 Park Avenue in offer a valuable source the 1960s and 1970s. Lafayette Square. The The cover of the first issue of the ZOA Free of information on the The Jesus Movement rejected tradi- coffeehouse was por- Paper, 1973. New Life Evangelistic Center (NLEC) Records Jesus Movement in St. tional organized religion in favor of encour- trayed as a Saturday- Louis and ministry for aging closer personal relationships with night hangout for the poor and home- Jesus. By the early 1970s it had spawned children and teens, with one ad featuring less in Missouri. For more information coffeehouses, communes, and marches a photograph of NLEC youths listening to on how to access this collection, contact that echoed the countercultural movement a rock band. Up to that point, traditional the St. Louis Research Center at stlouis@ of the 1960s. Christian denominations had frowned on shsmo.org.

Oliver & Oliver Law Firm Records Now Available to Researchers The Cape Girardeau Research Center on the law firm’s cases, document the nation to establish the Mingo National recently completed the first major step in family’s involvement in local commu- Wildlife Refuge, numerous civil cases, processing the records of its largest manu- nity organizations and offer insights into settlements of estates, and cases con- script collection to date, the Oliver & Oliver local and state politics. Topics include cerning the Little River Drainage District. Law Firm Records. Originally stored in over Boy Scouts of America, the Rotary The Cape Girardeau center’s staff 400 bankers’ boxes in the basement of a Club, the Cape Girardeau Country Club, is continuing its work on the collec- local building, the collection was donated Oliver family genealogy, the Missouri tion. One of the next goals is to refine by J. Fred Waltz of the firm of Oliver, Bar Association, Sons of the American the draft finding aid so researchers can Oliver & Waltz in 2013. It has taken several Revolution, and Democratic Party poli- locate specific materials more easily. archivists a little over six years of recording tics. The Society’s staff has discovered The Oliver & Oliver Law Firm Records each acquisition to prepare it for further correspondence between the Olivers are open to research by appointment only work to make it more useful to researchers. and such illustrious figures as presidents until finding aids have been completed. The collection holds materials dating Grover Cleveland and Harry S. Truman, Researchers should contact the Cape from the 1880s through the 1970s. The congressmen Champ Clark and Wil- Girardeau Research Center if they wish to Oliver family came to Cape Girardeau lard D. Vandiver, and several Missouri access it. Some boxes may not be acces- County from North Carolina in the 1820s governors and university presidents. sible during this phase of processing. and became prominent in southeast Mis- Legal cases with substantial hold- For more information, contact souri. The Oliver Records, which include ings include a peonage or debt slavery the Cape Girardeau Research Center personal correspondence and records case involving parties in the Missouri at [email protected]. on tenant farming in addition to papers Bootheel, lawsuits over land condem-

MISSOURI TIMES 14 RESEARCH CENTERS

Online Research Tools Reveal New Clues about Mystery Doctor from Denmark Thirty-five years ago, SHSMO received search of census records in other states with her and Andersen. Graduating from the personal papers of Hans Peter has revealed why: Andersen had joined medical school in 1919, Andersen set up a Andersen, a Danish immigrant who estab- the circus. He worked for several years as practice in Bloomsdale in Ste. Genevieve lished a medical practice in Bloomsdale, a cook with the Barnum and Bailey Circus, County. Materials in the Andersen Papers Missouri, shortly after graduating from the based in Bridgeport, Connecticut. While reveal a tragedy two years later: in 1921 Washington University School of Medicine with Barnum and Bailey, Andersen traveled he rushed Rena to Barnes Hospital in St. in St. Louis in 1919. Andersen was in his to Los Angeles, Seattle, Dallas, Chicago, Louis for complications linked to a preg- late thirties by the time he entered medical Kansas City, and a number of other cities. nancy. She delivered a baby, but died due school in 1917, however, and little was Born in October 1880 in Copenhagen, to complications associated with eclampsia. known about his earlier years. Denmark, Andersen set sail from his It is unclear whether the child survived. The Hans Peter Andersen Papers at homeland in 1907 bound for Canada. In Andersen is listed as the attending physi- the Rolla Research Center have puzzled 1908 he boarded a train in Moose Jaw, cian at the time of Rena’s death. and enticed researchers and staff archi- Saskatchewan, traveled to Emerson, North No records have been found regarding vists since Roger Martin and Judy Worley Dakota, and began living in the United Andersen after 1921. Whatever became donated the collection to the Society in States. Too old for military service when of the doctor after this sorrowful time 1985. In addition to medical reports such the United States entered World War I in remains a mystery, another chapter in a life as diagnoses from autopsies performed 1917, Andersen embarked on his medical yet to be uncovered. by Andersen and others at Washington education in St. Louis and assisted at University and a collection of letters from local hospitals while receiving letters and medical colleagues during World War I, photographs from younger colleagues who the Andersen Papers contain letters from served the war effort overseas. One letter earlier years, before he arrived in Missouri. writer in particular, Bert C. Ball, was a ward Little was known about Andersen’s life orderly at Base Hospital No. 21 in France. before he arrived in St. Louis in late 1917 Ball’s letters discuss life in the army, mutual to begin medical school. The earlier letters friends, hospital work, influenza cases, and in the collection, mostly correspondence his hope for an armistice. with family members back in Denmark, In 1918, Andersen applied to become a are written in Danish and have not been naturalized US citizen. On his paperwork, translated. More mysteriously, the letters he listed his next of kin as his wife, Rena. from 1909 to 1911 were sent to Andersen She had three children from a previous at addresses all over the country. An online marriage, and two of them came to live

A collection of postcards sent to Andersen from Denmark during World War I, including one marked “Opened By Censor.” Hans Peter Andersen Papers

MISSOURI TIMES 15 Register Now for the Missouri Conference on History Join us March 11–13 for the Missouri Conference on History at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in Chesterfield. The annual conference is dedicated to sharing current research, exchanging information on teaching and curriculum, and promoting the field of history. Register now to attend the conference. An early bird discount is available to those who register before February 16. Registrations after March 2 do not guarantee a meal at the luncheons, so sign up soon by visiting mch.shsmo.org.

This editorial cartoon from 1960 by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Bill Mauldin depicts political battles over construction of the Gateway Arch, as represented by Republican president Dwight Eisenhower (left) and Missouri Democratic congressman Clarence Cannon (right). Editorial Cartoons Collection

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